Evaluation of 'Vandals'

1) In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When planning our thriller ‘Vandals’ we paid particular attention to our setting and the way in which we were going to shoot it and also the costumes we used and how they would represent our chosen sub genre which was British gangster. To do this we paid particular attention to the costumes used in film such as ‘London to Brighton’ and ‘Lock stock and two smoking barrels’ we looked at the costumes used in both films and how this helped portray the characters and the genre and particularly in London to Brighton how the location was portrayed in the way it was shot. We paid particular attention to the male costumes, which were just a combination of tough army style boots and long black coats with hoods. This clothing helped portray a touch and gritty look and is found in many conventional thriller films.



(below- the first two pictures are taken of the costume used for one of the men in our thriller, the dark coat and dark boots represent the look we wanted them to portray)

(Above- A still from 'Lock stock and two smoking barrels' where the male characters are dressed in a very similar way to our two actors and in the scene of the wall of graffiti is very very similar to our setting also)

( Above- in the film snatch these similar costumes are used to emphasise the gritty, gang lifestyle that these characters live)

This costume made our characters look as though they wish not to be recognised, which made viewers suspicious as to what they were going to do. The female character was dressed in heels and a dress to represent femininity and a contrast to the gritty male characters. The male costume is typical of our genre and emphasises the suspicious, rough and gritty look which we tired to give our characters. This also linked to our setting as the location was very rough and gritty. We chose this location because it set the scene of our thriller particularly well as it is a burnt out, derelict building. (below)This type of gritty location is fairly common of Thriller films. It connotes images of isolation, destruction and vandalism which developed the plot of our thriller, which wouldn’t have been as effective with a different set. The set gives off feelings of vandalism and danger as the building itself is unsafe due to how much damage has been caused by vandals and violent youths. The surrounding ally ways were also used in the title sequence as they are dark, covered by overgrown bushes and contain many fences and gates which are supposidly ment to prevent entering the site but over the years have been dismanteled and vandalised to make entering the unsafe site easier. This shows the type of people that have used this building over the years and what they have used it for, which is predominantly graffitti and drug use. The way it was shot connotes panic and escape as the clip was shot from a point of view angle of a running person. The colours are very dark, bland and bleak and connote emotions which the viewer can recognise to be linked with the mood of the film which is not happy or joyful. The name of the film and the font used in the opening gives the viewer an idea of what the film will be like. The title ‘vandals’ connotes anti-social unpleasant behaviour, and the font used connotes our genre and the way we wanted our film to be portrayed. The name of our production company was 'Decayed Films', this also contributed to our genre and location as the setting was a decaying building. We concerntrated really heavily on the themes of violence and corruption as these are very typical themes in british gangsta films. We had a lot of planning on what props we could use in order to give the thriller a very british gangster edge and we thought about the use of cigarettes alot. We included a cigarette drop in one shot, i like this becuase i think it adds to the atmosphere. Cigarettes are linked with rebellion and disreguard for social norms and the way in which the shot is handeled draws attention to the boot and the floor and the way that he squashes it with his boot to extinguish it, this shows authority and ignorence.

ABOVE- This still shows the dark, bleak Allyway shot in our opening. It has many conotations of Thriller films and British Gangsta films. The still is blurred as the shot is a point of view shot of a person running. The mood of the opening sets the mood of our whole clip, this educates the viewer on what to expect for the overall mood of the rest of what they will watch. It creates expectations because if we had shot this clip on a sunny day the connotations of sun would have created such moods as happiness and pleasure, which we were trying not to display.

ABOVE- This still is taken of the name of our thiller. This font connotes vandalism and destuction and represents our sub genre. The text is centeral and cathces the viewers attention. The font creates a really good effect which other fonts would not have. The titles are similar to that of Se7en in that the titles fade in and out between footage and are of a similar type font. (as below)

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

When planning, we had to seriously think about the image we wanted our charaters to portray and how their costume would display elements of their personality. Our male characters display elements of Anti- social behaviour and wear 'yob' type clothing. The female character is dressed in a typical everyday costume with heels and a dress. the heels were particulally important as they are very femenine, hard to run in and make more noise than most shoes, which gave effect when were were filming, particually inside. There are several films i can link to our thriller, the first would be open to brighton, this films has a very bleak outlook on social groups, the only difference is that the female characters in london to brighton have a more strong personality and persona than the female in my opening. The main link between the two films is that of male dominence and female vunrability. The male characters rely on brute fource in order to get their way instead of approaching other more sociable and less harsh actions. This is the same in london to brighton in that the main male character tries to find the vunerable female characters in order to murder them. My thriller does not portray either sex in a particulally good light, there are no hero's. Just criminals and victims. There is no clear representation of good and evil other than possibly the male characters being dressed in black and carrying a weapon where as the female character is hysterical and wearing a bright red dress this could connote her as good, and possibly innocent.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our thriller was intended for a more independant audience. Elements of our costume and plot ect have some mainstream concepts i think that our thriller would be more widely accepted by a similar audience of that of london to brighton and lock stock as they are films which are the closest to our idea. I think that distribution would be better exhibited at a film festival or on video sites such as youtube. This is because of the way we used teenage characters and a modern dress sense we are linking to a younger audience but old enough to appreciate the plot. If we posted the opening of our thriller on websites such as youtube and myspace, websites which we know that our audicence use. The aim of this would be to attract our audience and create a buzz about our film before release. The company Warp X would be a good low budget film distribution company to work with as many of its films have been set in gritty places with strange and violent characters and all of the films have a very raw edge.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our film was aimed at audeinces aged 15-25 because these are the people we can realte to most and also because our film will be watched primarily by young media students. People our own age will find it easier to relate to our ideas, costume choice and plot because they may recognise the setting, costume or even actors. Because of this age range this best way to exhibit our thriller would be online, this is because people of this age use sites like myspace and youtube alot and would easily be able to acces our thriller. Because of this, we would have to make sure our film was suitable for this audience and would not be classified as 18+ due to violence/drug use ect.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

In my audience research i targeted mainly my audience and i found out what was important to the viewer in terms of plot, cast, music ect and i also found out which ways my audience most watch films. The results of this were that Audiences prefered to watch films either online, at the cinema or on DVD. I also researhed into the films which were preffered by my age range, many of which were similar to my thriler, small, independant gritty films. This aided me in working around what the audience wants and things to consider including in my thriller when i shot it in order to make sure my targeted audience would like it. Another reasons young people of our age range can link to this film is the surrounding issues in todays society about youth being branded as "chavs" and "yobs" and the on going issues in our county about young people being anti social. This is a really key way that youths can relate to this film as its a growing issue in our country. Enigma was also a big element when planning our thriller and i think it is an important factor in most thrillers. The reason for the persuit of the girl is left, to the viewer, unknown. The harash actions taken to get rid of her are left unknown also, and the viewer is left questioning the killers reasons for persuing and murdering a young girl. Alot of questions in the opening of the film are left unanswered and the audience would have to watch the rest of the film in order to know why she was murdered. Enigma keeps the audience gripped and wanting to know more, which is the point of thrillers, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before filming 'Vandals' i had very basic knowledge of how to use a video camera but from filming i have learnt how to use it to its full advantage and also how to use the little equiptment we had in order to bring out the best from each shot. Alot of the lighting we used was very basic and we had to improvise with tripods and different angles to get the best outcome. This was the same with out camera, when using a very nice camera, which we had very little knowledge about all the different fuctions and had fun experimenting with the settings and what we could change to benefit our thriller. I also learnt more about the hidden meaning of shots and how the way something is shot can change everything about the situation. We also took advantage of our editing suite in order to put together what we had filmed. We played around with different effects and timings and sound and brought them all together using computer softwear, something which i couldnt use before filming. The internet has also been very helpful as i can use sites to download fonts to put into my thriller and use as the opening and i was able to re-watch openings and title sequences to other thrillers online in order to edit mine in a way that i saw fit.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The main difference i had from shooting my preliminary task and my thriller were the creative liberties that i had. For my Preliminary task i could only shoot within school grounds and had very little time to plan and edit it. I also had very little time to plan costumes and props or even location. In my thriller we had alot longer to draw up shooting scheduals and story board ect and more preperation for our props, cast and location. Because we had longer to plan i also had more time to plan each shot and how i wanted them to look, as apposed to in my preliminary task having to make the most of what little time we had. For my thriller i also had to research about my audience and had out questionaires in order to see what they wanted to see in a film so that i could take this into consideration when shooting. I feel that the prelimiray, although sucsessful, was just a warm up for making my thriller and i really felt that it was good in getting to grips with some planning techniques and basic knowledge of your set and your camera and how to bring out the most in it. I also learnt that though all the planning for our thriller was good i feel that it was slightly too ridged and we planned more of our shots when we got to the location as apposed to sitting on a computer or in our classroom planning how we were going to shoot things. I think the over all planing of our story line and plot and costumes were needed but it was more effective turning up at the set and seeing how we could use every little element of its gritty, raw feel to our advantage. For example using holes in the ceiling and things hanging out of the walls in order to get some needed high angle shots and using things like rubble and bricks to get desired sounds in the running shots. The only element we found difficult was lighting as there are no windows in more of the building and our main source of light was flash lights on tripods and ambient lighting which came in through holes in the ceiling and walls.

Audience Research proposal.

My proposal for my audience research was to design a Questionaire ( posted before) in order to find out about peoples views on independant and mainstream films. From this i shall find out about which genres of films were prefered by either sex, How my audience finds out about the films which they watch and what they find important in the films they view.
i could gather infomation by surveying people, or passing out questionaires. I decided that questionaires were better as the infomation would be easier to process and evaluate afterwards.

Audience Profile.

Our target audience wasnt targeted when we planned our thriller but due to the cast of our thriller being fairly young, i think that the audience we are targeting are young people that like strange, twisted thrillers. Our Thriller is shaped to this age group because our cast and costumes are fairly young and therefor can relate to the audience. Our film is an Indie film therefor related to an indie audience. They want individuality in a thriller, something different that sets it aside from every other thriller. I want people to think that the plot, and setting and general feel that the film gives are all very different to anything that they have seen before. We shot our thriller basically in the way that we would like to view a thriller with ideas that we and our friends thought we're interesting and then developed the shots in ways that we thought were slightly more interesting to watch. In the responses to my questionaires i found that most men prefered comedy films, Horror and thriller films came second. Elements of Horror and Thriller are present in our short opening and we think that this will make our thriller appealing. In ranking of importance plot and cast came out on top, ranked by under 29's. We put most effort when planning into our plot and cast and possibly setting. We also tried to make our thriller arty with some different angles and ideas, We thought that this made the opening appealing to an indie audience.

Actors.

The Actors we will be using are

Jess(Me)
I play (Emily) the girl who is running from the scene of the brutal attack and is followed to my hiding place by the attackers. I am scared and alone and incapable of protecting myself and finally i get found cowering in a dark room and am beaten and left in the room. I am incapable of seeing my attackers.

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Dan & Jordan
Dan and Jordan play the brutal attackers who beat me up. They are dressed in long coats and black boots with their hoods up so that their face is not visable. They use a bat/weapon and a cigarette as props. Most of the scenes are set in the dark which aids the attackers in not seeing their faces. They are amoral and mean.

Thriller Proposal.

Our thriller film will take place in an abandoned burnt down sports centre in Eaton, Norwich. The location fits in well with our plot and our genre. Our sub genre is british gangsta and we can tell this because of the setting and the plot and the sets which we use. The characters are all british and typically so in the way they speak and dress, although we have very little speech in our opening. The characters dress in long back coats and hardy black leather boots. The only female character dresses in a tartan dress and long black heels. The back story is that she witnesses them brutally attacking a man and runs away from the scene, seeing her they follow her through a fence and into a large abandoned house where she thinks she can hide from them, but is sadly mistaken. The house is full of graffitti and large pitch black rooms in which our thriller takes place, this adds to the effect and the plot. Some aspects of our thiller can be linked to films such as Lock Stock and Two smoking Barrels. Which is also a british gangsta films and some of the costumes that are featured in this film can be seen replicated in our thriller. Also we can link our thriller to london to brighton which also contains female characters running from brutal male gangstas. Similally the settings, Particulally in the bathroom scene of london to brighton can be linked to the seedy graffitti ridden rancid walls of our abandoned house.

Thriller Shooting Map.

Above is a Hand drawn Over View of our Shooting Plan. The numbers mark several places around the "CIV" that we are using, or that are key to the set. This drawing is only rough and does not give exact distances or real life proportion.

Description of places marked.

1) This is the enterence to the site itself. We will be shooting our female character going through the fence and into the site itself. The Fence is located down a dark and mysterious allyway. This will create suspense and Add drama.

2) This site is an open basketball court that has been trashed and spray painted. This will possibly be shown in the background of our shooting. It is dark and dingey and fits in with out theme.

3) This is the main building, the first room is an old squash court where most of our filming is due to take place. This is subject to change. The walls are full of graffiti and the lighting is sparse. This will fit in with the typical conventions of thrillers really well.

4) Second part of the main building is slightly more un-useable. Despite the site being lighter here the structure is slightly most unstable and due to alot of rubbish and rubble, we didnt see that this end of the site being a good place to film in.

5) This end of the building has been completely knocked down apart from a few remaining walls. This may be a good place to do a few shots through to add effect but apart from that is going to remain mainly un-used.

6) This is an open area filled with shrubs and trees. the ground isnt particulally stable but is a good place to take a shot of the building. This area will remain mainly un-used.

7) This is a small burnt out shed that is to the side of "the civ" and could be a possible place to shoot from. Despite having alot of ambient light the room isnt quite as good as the first suggested room so will remain out of the main shots but may be used in the background.

8) Number eight is the main field, this looks rather scary at night and because of the trees and the vast darkness could be used for a really good chase scene. It is also a good place to shoot a long shot of the buildings from.

9) This is the allyway needed to walk down to get to the civ, its dark and mysterious and leads round the trees to the enterence gap. This is going to be featured in the opening of our thriller showing our characters entering the site.

Shot List Version One.

Shot One- A girl Running through ally - Mid tracking shot.
Not much light, eerie feel to the shot.
**Credits One** Diagetic sound of Girl Running
Shot Two- girl going through the hole in the fence. - Close up from Front.
Various Extreme close ups of Arms and hands, Legs and Feet and Face.
**Credits two** Diagetic sound of Fence.
Shot Six- Girl Running to the civ. - Tracking Mid shot from behind with some More ECU.
Shot Seven- Girl cowering in the corner of the sqaush court - panning shot from front.
Close ups of her hands and legs.
**Credit Three** Diagetic sound of crying and Footsteps.
Shot eight- Feet appearing at the doorway, cigarette dropping to the floor and foot stamping it out. ECU on cigarette.
Shot nine- first person view of girl looking up at men, the lighting hides their faces.
Shot Ten- first person view of girl running away, grabbed by man one and hit with the weapon by man two.
Shot Eleven- Blood hits wall.
Shot Twelve- Shot from Floor in opposite corner of room, girl slides down the wall and close up of feet as they exit the room.

StoryBoardOne.

Costumes and Props.

Our Thriller only really uses two props, the fist of which is a baseball bat. The baseball bat is used as a weapon to beat up the young girl hiding in the burnt out building. Baseball bats are common in films with violence and gangs etc. Whe chose this weapon because it looks distinctive in a shadow, which is the way we are going to film the attack, through the shadows on the wall. This will tell the viewer whats going on without having to directly show a young girl being beaten up, an idea we thought would be too difficult to shoot.

This prop features in the cover of "Inglorious Bastards" covered in blood with an army helmet hanging off it, this is because the film is about Nazi germany and world war two. This gives us the impression that the bat is used in the film the way we are using it in our film, as apposed to its actual use which is baseball. This baseball bat looks alot more gruesome than the one in the photo above, and fits in with our thriller theme really well. We will not be showing any particulally gruesome shots because they are harder to make realistic on a small budget and without trained actors.

The only other prop we are using is a ciagrette. The cigarette will be dropped next to our main character to alert her to other people being in the room. cigarettes are common in thriller films with seedy characters because these are the people more stereotyped to smoke. The cigarette will drop to the floor and will be stubbed out by a big black boot of one of the men. Cigarettes are a symbol of hardieness, grimey characters and death. They can also be used to express femeninity in the right context. Straight cigarettes are more common in films and we will be using a cigarette similar to the one in the photo below on the left.

For our costumes we have selected predictable clothing. Both of the men will be dressed in big black coats and big black boots, this fits in with our genre and the eerie feel to the setting. Our two men will be intimidating and dark, and through the film we do not see their faces, we only hear them and see their torso and feet. More attention to detail was paid to the female character, who had been out when witnessing an attack. She will be in a small coat, a dress and heels. This represents her vunrebility and her femeninity. This is important because we want to give an impression of innocence about her, something which the male characters appear to ignore. the Photos below are the costumes of the men in our Thriller.

Classroom Notes from the opening scene of "Seven"

The Opening of the film goes straight into the scene of Morgan Freeman (Decetive Somerset) in his apartment. This is before credits or titles. There is no speach but we get to know a small ammount about his way of life. He is Quiet, Tidy and witheld. He has very particular ways of getting ready to leave his house.
Next Shot, still no titles is a dead body, the blood is highlighted by the lighting.
Voice of a police officer talking about the neighbours account of what was happening.
Enterence of Brad Pitt (Detective Mills) to the crime scene.

Detective Somerset:
Quieter, Old, Wise, Logical.
Fussy, Lonely?
Wears a Hat - a sign of an upstanding gentleman?

Detective Mills:
Sarcastic, Wise-act, Confident
Young/Stupid?
They are contrasting characters.

Titles Come after end of Convosation in the street between the two detectives.
Opening credits are strange. Lots of flickering and movement.
They are very uneasy and gruesome.
Dark Shadows are Used typical of Thrillers.
The flashing images give a sense of unease to the viewer.
Childrens Writing? Images of cencoring, photographs being developed. finger naiils being cut. Lots of images of books and writing.

Location Shots.

These are Photos of our locations. Underneath is a description of the places and the ways in which we intend to use them. The building we are using is an old burnt out building that was previously used as a small sports center. Above is an Aeriel view of the view, i used google maps to obtain this image.


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This is the apporach to the entrance to our location. It is particulally dark and mysterious and will look good in the right lighting. I think that this shot would be good for a tracking shot or a long shot. The allyway gives the impression of entrapment and can be very scary at night walking alone.


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This shot is taken from the end of the field, i think the field itself represents being exposed, and being vunerable. it will look good at sunset where the shadows of the trees have an overbearing effect. It also gives a good shot of the building that the thriller will be set in.


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This photo is of the side of the "civ" building which we are using to film our thriller. The building is old, burnt down and gives the feel of an unsafe place for our characters to be hiding from eachother. The building is large, and has been battered and Graffiti's by youths. I think that it is a perfect place to film a thriller.


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This is the first corridor of the enterance to our location. It is Grimey and battered and isnt a particulally safe place to be in. It will look scary at night when we are filming it and with the right light useage we can focus on certain elements, such as shadows on the grimey walls and the battered ceilings and floors.


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This is a photo of Daniel in the first room, this room was once a squash court and is now not used to anything. The room is large and like the corridor covered in graffitti. It again follows our thriller feel of being burnt and run down and is scary. The room is dirty and run down, it is a grimey place to be hiding from unfriendly characters in our plot.


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This is another room we are thinking of filming in, the pool table is still intact but dirty and un-used. I think that the connotations of the pool room are nice, Pool tables are expensive and found in the houses of rich people and nices public houses, therefor this is a juxtapose for the pool table in the horrible burnt out house.


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This is the gaping hole at the end of the corridor which leads to another building and the woodland outside. I think it adds to the effect of the house because it makes the place feel unsecre and exposed. I think that it is an ideal place to set our thriller task.

An essay analysing the opening of the third man.

The Opening of The Third Man is very typical of Film Noir. The Opening Credits are in White Bold letters, which stand out against the dark "zither strings" that are playing a song in the background, the notes are flat but the tune is upbeat and sticcato. This song was released after the film which topped the international music charts in 1950. After this opening, the shot moves straight to a shot of a vienna sky line, post war. The mood of the image is dark and depressing, a city which has suffered bombing and sufferage. There are images of trade in the black market or "underground economy" a market that trades without reguard to tax or law. Images of Traiding in the blackmarket in Vienna accompany his voice over which switches and begins talking about the city, he talks about the four corners of the city that are being govenrned by 4 nationalities. The British, The American, The French and The Russian. The many shots of archetecture are gothic and depressed. After this the voice introduces us to Holly Martins, a man who has travelled to Vienna after his friend Harry Lime has offered him a chance to work with him. While he is talking about him we see images of Soldiers and War related images. Martins Appears of a Steam Train in traditional dress. A suit, Hat and Breifcase. According to Standard at the time this was seen as a very appropraite way to dress. It seems that all of his Possessions are in the one breifcase he is carrying, this suggests he doesnt have many possessions. After speaking to a guard in the train station Martins makes his journey to Limes house. It is not yet known how they are friends and where he origionally came from. Aswell we are unaware of who the narator is. Just before Martins gets to the house he walks under a ladder which is traditionally bad luck. The house is beautiful, but very empty, this is apparent from the beginning. After walking up a very large grand, Gothic staircase he is told by a german man that he has just missed limes frineds who were going to his funeral and that Lime was killed by a lorry in front of the house. The Mood of the whole opening scene is very Depressing, Martins is upbeat and jolly and we do not see his reaction to find that the man who he would be living and working with has died days before. Alot of the Film uses harsh lighting and distorted camera angles. All the the Locations are very traditional for post war Vienna, and set the mood of the situation in the film properly. The Opening of The third man does not reveal much of the plot and up to this part in the film, the audience is unaware of what will unfold in the rest of the film. The mood of the film fits in the with mood at the time it was released. The world was still very interested in War, and the impact that it had on the entire world.

Audience Research.

A Discussion on LA Noir.

LA Noir is not a term you hear a lot of, and because of this i found it difficult to research for this piece of writing. It is Similar to Film Noir in the way that its key Element is Distinctive Lighting however LA Noir is shot in colour, usually with a hint of chrome in the colour. Similar to Film Noir, Presence of Femme Fatales are common in LA Noir also. They're seductive dress sense is alluring to the Male characters, they are objectified by the men as Sex Objects. LA Noir Commonly uses Binary opposites such as good and evil. An Example of this is in the Opening on LA confidential the male character talks about "Mr Fire and Mr Ice" they're used to created elements of opposition and drama.

A Discussion on Film Noir and its Conventions.

Film Noir literally means “Black Film”. It is a cinematic term for a style of film making that was Established after the second world war, originally in france. It reached its peak in the early 1940’s till the late 1950’s and was used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that centre on cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Film Noir was first applied to Hollywood films by Nino Frank a French Critic in the 40’s. Despite much of Film Noir being seen as a Type of film, it is still debated about as to weather it is a distinct genre or just a style of film making. Film Noir is often more widely identified as a visual style, that emphasizes low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions. In film Noir we expect to see a lot of the typical conventions of the style of film, such as Low key Lighting, sinister characters (usually the main character being a white middle aged male). Props such as Hats and Cigarettes are used commonly in Film Noir. Wearing a hat in the time that these films were made was expected if you were an upstanding gentleman, this was not the case if you went without a hat. These props are commonly used to hide behind, in many cases a man will be covering part of his face with a hat, in a long coat. This gives the character a mysterious and dangerous look. Cigarettes are a common occurrence with most characters in Film Noir. Especially Femme Fetal style characters. Most of the stories of Film Noir are based around crime, lust and murder. An example of a more recent “Neo-Noir” film is Sin City (2005). Which has slightly different conventions to older style film noir but some of the original conventions are still present. The Visual Style of Film Noir is a lot of Low-Key lighting combined with Dramatic shadows. It is also known for its low-angle shots and wide angle lenses. Commonly in Film Noir Story plots we see a lot of Flashbacks and most of the film is usually shot on location. The characters in film noir are often arrogant and isolated; they are never particularly sociable or friendly. Film Noir is a highly recognised style of film making that although has passed its peak is still appreciated in today’s society.

Femme fetale and film noir


Film noir was developed around the time of World War 2, and traditionally in most film noir films we see femme fetales. A femme fetale is French for “killer or deadly woman”. It was derived from anti-heroine vampires of early cinema. She is typically alluring and seductive who ensnares her lovers into a bond of irresistible desire. Traditionally very subversive a femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using beauty, charm, and sexual allure. Femme fetales are typically villainous; they use their charms and sexual awareness to achieve what they want. Femme Fetales are found often in Film Noir and around the time they were not seen as traditional women. At the time of the film noir periods women had not particularly established individuality and women could not be publicly seductive in the way that we have established today. Typically Femme Fetales are sexy, dangerous and clever. They are confident and make men lust after them; this creates an element of control. The term is associated with powerful women. An example of a femme fetale in a film is Rita Hayworth in “the lady from shanghai” a 1948 film noir film. According to the film Mildred Pierce it can be defined as the kind of woman that a man wants, but shouldn’t have. The Velvet Underground song "Femme Fatale" tells of a woman who will "play" a man "for a fool”. An example of a modern day femme fetale is the beautiful Dita von Tease. She is known for being a famous burlesque dancer and a model. She has a typical femme fetale look and a retro dress sense. She frequently mirrors the work of a similar model of an earlier time Bettie Page.

This Is England Presentation

Media and Me

Media and Me

My Name is Jessica Dunford. In my GCSEs I achieved two B’s, three D’s and all the rest C’s. For my A levels I am studying Media, Psychology, English Land and Lit and Photography. My Hobbies include Photography, Gigs, Traveling, Horse Riding and Music.
I read magazines more than I read newspapers but I tend to read The Sunday Times sometimes as well as local newspapers such as the EDP. I Read them because my family always has, and it’s a nice routine to have on a Sunday. I use the BBC website or watch the news to access the headlines rather than reading newspapers everyday. Radio is a Large Gateway to the Music I listen to. I Listen to Radio One and Radio Two. I like most of the Radio Presenters and the music that they play is usually the music that I enjoy listening to. I really Like Kerrang Magazine and Rock Sound too. They Spotlight the Music that influences me most.
The Music Industry plays a monumental role in my life, my father has been in the music industry his whole life and I have grown up around live concerts and musical instruments. My Favourite Genres of music are Rock, Indie, Acoustic and Punk. I am not in a band but I play the guitar and piano. I find out about bands by using the internet and going to gigs. Illegally downloading is a large problem for many musicians at the moment. A band I admire greatly once said to me that they would not be angry at me for illegally downloading their album, I paid to see them live, which means more to them than album sales. I used to download all of my music but have since bought the albums of bands that I really, really like. I still however spent astonishing amounts of money on gig tickets and band t-shirts. The Music Industry influences my life style, the company I choose to keep and the clothes I choose to buy. The bands I listen to influence my attitude towards life, I find a good band cannot only play their instruments to a high standard but are able to write their own Thought Provoking lyrics and can perform on stage.
I do not play nor have I ever played Video Games. I don’t find that I ever have enough time to be playing video games nor do I find them entertaining. I don’t really understand the world of gaming, I think it’s great that gaming has got so advanced, however anybody that has enough time to be sat on an Xbox all day clearly needs to question how well they spend their time and why they don’t have anything better to do. Although saying this I do have great appreciation for people that spend a lot of time developing the graphics for these games. They’re incredibly clever and well thought out and are ideal for their target audience. I am a firm believer that games should really only be aimed at children and younger people that don’t have a job or anything that they do after school. In that respect video games are great for occupying children but I feel that I don’t have enough time to play them.
New Technologies have greatly opened my access to films and television and the music industry. Wherever I go the media is following me, Advertisements on Bus’s and music playing in shops. There are many shops and websites that sell films, books, music etc. You can find a massive library of any band or any film you can think of. Computer Software is advanced to the stage now where I can make short films and edit them using just a camcorder and the software that came with my desktop. I can then publish these short films to a site such as youtube, where my video can be accessed by the whole world.
I really, really love television. I like television shows that have something different about them. I really enjoy friends, it was such a massive part of television in my generation and was one of the biggest, highest rated television shows. I also love shows like never mind the buzz cocks and mock the week. I think the show Ugly Betty deserves more credit for what it actually is. The diverse ranges of characters in the programme are incredible and the actors play the parts of the programme so well. I like the contrast between them and watching how the personalities clash. Five Memorable Television shows in my eyes are probably Only Fools and Horses, Minder, Friends, The Simpson’s and A Touch of Frost. For a long time I disliked
The Simpson’s, until I was older and realised that the script writing is extremely clever and I can now appreciate the underlying jokes that the writer aims at an older audience as apposed to the cartoon being aimed at children. I always wondered why my father liked it so much. I don’t like stereotyping television. Like cartoons only being suitable for children, I disagree. South Park is a major example of a cartoon show that is completely unsuitable for children.
I don’t have a favourite genre of film, I like films that I can walk away and rethink about and I like films which change the way I think about something. Films that I find outstanding are probably Trainspotting, because the book was amazing and im a firm believer that not many films can capture the characters, the relationships and the Story as well as the book. It is written in a Scottish accent which I think is very original. I also really like the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, again I prefer the book however I think that the film is very original and the characters are portrayed very well. I really like the film Cruel Intentions, I think that the story line is very original

As Media Advertising Campaign

As Media Advertising Campaign

Empowered Lipstick.

The advert I have designed is specific to women. The picture I have used of the main backdrop is feminine and artistic. The woman is applying red lipstick and has an expression on her face of glamour and femininity. She is very colourful and the image uses a very feminine colour theme. She is wearing a lot of pink and black make up, which red co-ordinated well with. I chose the lipstick idea because it is something that I myself purchase a lot and when I see an advert for a new brand of lipstick I thought about the way I interpret the image when considering to buying it. I really like the artistic theme to the advert. The colour theme in the advert is pink and reds which I think are associated with women and cosmetics. When I came up with the idea of a lipstick advert my original idea was to use a gothic vampire theme, this however proved a challenging task to manufacture as gothic and images of vampires are hard to make positive and appealing. I reason I chose this idea originally is because red lipstick is commonly associated with gothic culture and is the same colour as blood, which is commonly associated with vampires. At this point I changed my idea to the current idea I have now; I think that this idea is better because it appeals to more people and a better audience than my original idea.
I think my advert is aimed at 16-25 year old women. This age group tend to wear make up more often than women older and they also take fashion and their appearance into great consideration. Make up is an essential part of feeling good about yourself and making a good appearance. Most women wear some form of makeup everyday and lipstick although is more common for formal events and going out can be worn for every day events. I think that my advert does not give off the impression that you can only wear this lipstick when dressing formally, the advert is quite laid back and general and not specific to any time in which the product can be used.
The text in my advert stands out but is also simple, this way the attention goes more towards the woman in the image and the lipstick at the bottom of the advert. The text reads “Be Artistic. Be Empowered. The theme of empowerment I personally think is a crucial factor as empowerment is something that women are everyday getting more and more of. We live in a male dominated society and dominance and power and very important to most women. I used the Phrase “Be Artistic” because make up in a sense is art. And the way you apply your makeup and the make up you wear says a lot about you. The image of lipstick which I chose also fits in with the artistic theme of the advert. I think that it is very important that all of the images in the advert are in keeping with each other. This image would be printed in women’s fashion magazines such as “Elle” and “vogue”. These magazines are focused on women and female interest. They cover topics on image and the shopping industry and Fashion.
I think the strengths of my advert is that it can be produced for a lot of different varieties of women and that it is feminine and sticks to the theme that I created. I think that some of the weaknesses are that it doesn’t contain enough information about the product itself and the price, where you can buy it etc.